Matthew 9:1

his own city: That is, Capernaum, Jesus’ home base in the region. (Mt 4:13; Mr 2:1) This city was not far from Nazareth, where he grew up; from Cana, where he turned water into wine; from Nain, where he resurrected the son of a widow; and from the vicinity of Bethsaida, where he miraculously fed about 5,000 men and restored sight to a blind man.

Matthew 9:3

Marginal References

+Joh 10:33; Ac 6:11

Matthew 9:4

Marginal References

+Joh 2:24, 25

Indexes

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Matthew 9:5

which is easier: It would be easier for someone to say that he could forgive sins, since there would be no visible evidence to substantiate such a claim. But to say, Get up and walk required a miracle that would make plain for all to see that Jesus also has the authority to forgive sins. This account and Isa 33:24 link sickness to our sinful condition.

Matthew 9:9

tax office: Or “tax collection booth.” This could be a small building or a booth where the tax collector sat and gathered taxes on exports, imports, and goods taken through a country by merchants. Matthew’s tax office was located in or near Capernaum.

Matthew 9:10

sinners: The Bible shows that all humans are sinners. (Ro 3:23; 5:12) Therefore, the term is used here in a more specific way, evidently referring to those who had a reputation for practicing sin, perhaps of a moral or a criminal nature. (Lu 7:37-39; 19:7, 8) The Jewish religious leaders also applied this term to Jewish or non-Jewish people who were ignorant of the Law or who failed to observe the rabbinic traditions.

Matthew 9:12

Matthew 9:13

mercy, and not sacrifice: Jesus twice refers to these words from Ho 6:6 (here and at Mt 12:7). Matthew, a despised tax collector who became an intimate associate of Jesus, is the only Gospel writer to record this quote as well as the illustration of the unmerciful slave. (Mt 18:21-25) His Gospel highlights Jesus’ repeated insistence that mercy is required in addition to sacrifice.

Matthew 9:17

wine into . . . wineskins: It was common in Bible times to store wine in animal skins. (1Sa 16:20) Skin bottles were made of the complete hides of domestic animals, such as sheep or goats. Old leather wineskins would become stiff and lose their elasticity. New wineskins, on the other hand, could stretch and swell and thus could withstand the pressure caused by the ongoing process of fermentation of new wine.​—See Glossary, “Wineskin.”

Matthew 9:21

Footnotes

*

Or “will be saved.”

Marginal References

+Mt 14:36; Lu 6:19

Matthew 9:22

daughter: The only recorded instance in which Jesus directly addressed a woman as “daughter,” perhaps because of the delicate situation and her “trembling.” (Lu 8:47) By using this term of endearment, a form of address that signifies nothing about the woman’s age, Jesus emphasizes his tender concern for her.

Matthew 9:36

felt pity: The Greek verb splag·khniʹzo·mai used for this expression is related to the word for “intestines” (splagʹkhna), denoting a feeling experienced deep inside the body, an intense emotion. It is one of the strongest words in Greek for the feeling of compassion.

skinned: The Greek word originally meant “flayed,” or “stripped of the skin,” conveying an image of sheep with their skin ripped apart by wild animals or torn as they wandered among brambles and sharp rocks. The term came to be used figuratively, meaning “maltreated, harassed, wounded.”

thrown about: The image here is of sheep being thrown down, helpless and exhausted, figuratively conveying the idea of the crowd being dejected, neglected, and helpless.

According to Matthew

9 So boarding the boat, he traveled across and went into his own city.+2 And look! they were bringing him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. On seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic: “Take courage, child! Your sins are forgiven.”+3 Now certain scribes said to themselves: “This fellow is blaspheming.”+4 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said: “Why are you thinking wicked things in your hearts?+5 For instance, which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?+6 However, in order for you to know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins—” then he said to the paralytic: “Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go to your home.”+7 And he got up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were struck with fear, and they glorified God, who gave such authority to men.

9 Next, while moving on from there, Jesus caught sight of a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: “Be my follower.” At that he rose up and followed him.+10 Later as he was dining* in the house, look! many tax collectors and sinners came and began dining* with Jesus and his disciples.+11 But on seeing this, the Pharisees said to his disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”+12 Hearing them, he said: “Healthy people do not need a physician, but those who are ill do.+13 Go, then, and learn what this means: ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice.’+ For I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.”

14 Then John’s disciples came to him and asked: “Why do we and the Pharisees practice fasting but your disciples do not fast?”+15 At this Jesus said to them: “The friends of the bridegroom+ have no reason to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, do they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them,+ and then they will fast. 16 Nobody sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old outer garment, for the new piece pulls away from the garment and the tear becomes worse.+17 Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins. If they do, then the wineskins burst and the wine spills out and the wineskins are ruined. But people put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

18 While he was telling them these things, look! a certain ruler who had approached did obeisance to him, saying: “By now my daughter must be dead, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will come to life.”+

19 Then Jesus got up and, with his disciples, followed him. 20 And look! a woman suffering for 12 years from a flow of blood+ approached from behind and touched the fringe* of his outer garment,+21 for she kept saying to herself: “If I only touch his outer garment, I will get well.”*+22 Jesus turned around and, noticing her, said: “Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.”*+ And from that hour the woman was made well.+

23 When, now, he came into the ruler’s house and caught sight of the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,+24 Jesus said: “Leave the place, for the little girl did not die but is sleeping.”+ At this they began to laugh at him scornfully. 25 As soon as the crowd had been sent outside, he went in and took hold of her hand,+ and the little girl got up.+26 Of course, the talk about this spread into all that region.

27 As Jesus moved on from there, two blind men+ followed him, shouting out: “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 After he had gone into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus asked them: “Do you have faith that I can do this?”+ They answered him: “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying: “According to your faith let it happen to you.” 30 And their eyes received sight.+ Moreover, Jesus sternly warned them, saying: “See that nobody gets to know it.”+31 But after going outside, they made it public about him in all that region.

32 When they were leaving, look! people brought him a speechless man possessed of a demon;+33 and after the demon had been expelled, the speechless man spoke.+ Well, the crowds were amazed and said: “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.”+34 But the Pharisees were saying: “It is by the ruler of the demons that he expels the demons.”+

35 And Jesus set out on a tour of all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the Kingdom and curing every sort of disease and every sort of infirmity.+36 On seeing the crowds, he felt pity for them,+ because they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd.+37 Then he said to his disciples: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few.+38 Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”+